Conventional digital communication of baseband data and speech signals uses synchronous time slots and frames such that recurring time slots in each frame are used for successive data bits or speech samples. Framing and synchronization, however, create a substantial hardware overhead and complicate operation--particularly when remote access is desirable.
Spread spectrum techniques for communication purposes are of ever increasing importance and research in this area is being actively pursued by many. The paper by B. Hirosaki et al entitled "Spread-Spectrum Multiple Access Data Loop," IEEE National Telecommunications Conference, November 1981, pp. G8.5.1-G8.5.6, discloses an optical fiber, spread spectrum, loop communication system for data, and analog signals. This system comprises a multiple of transmit/receive local nodes connected in a loop configuration, and a sync node which transmits a sync signal over the loop to establish frame synchronization at each local node. The performance/reliability of this loop or ring configuration requires the repeat-and-transmit involvement of all nodes.